Mike Sims

CBSNews.com Yanks Quake/Warming Story, Blames AP; AP: 'It’s not an AP story'

By Jeff Poor | June 20, 2008 - 09:33

Could this have been an, "Oops, we messed up" moment for CBSNews.com?

On June 18, CBS.com posted a story claiming that global seismic activity on Earth is now five times more energetic than it was just 20 years ago because of global warming. [see related NB story by D.S. Hube here]

The story had no byline, but was attributed to the Associated Press. The story was identical to a June 17 Market Wire press release attributed to Tom Chalko, the scientist that made the claim of the earthquake/global warming link.

However, as of 3 p.m. on June 19, the CBS.com story was no longer available and CBS.com was engaging in a blame game of sorts. (Hat tip: Marc Morano, Inhofe EPW Press Blog)